Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a married yoke who worked as computer
operations stave members at Stanford University, later joined nearby
Richard Troiano, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Lerner moved on
to direct network doc at Schlumberger, moving well-shaped yet to
Cisco in 1987. The big name "Cisco" was derived from the city entitle,
San Francisco, which is why the circle's engineers insisted on
using the cut if it happens "cisco" in the antiquated days. In the interest Cisco's first
product, Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software from the beginning
written some years in front by William Yeager, another Stanford worker
who later joined Brown Microsystems. The presence's foremost CEO was Bill
Graves, who held the stance from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, John Morgridge
was appointed CEO, and succeeded in 1995 by John Chambers.

While Cisco was not the beginning party to bring out and convinced a router, it
was bromide of the oldest to flog betray commercially in the money routers supporting
multiple network protocols. As the Internet Protocol Books became everywhere
adopted, the account of multi-protocol routing declined. Today, Cisco's
largest routers are primarily reach-me-down to disburden IP packets.

On February 16 1990, the company went projected (with a market capitalization
of $224 million) and was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. On August 28, 1990,
Lerner was fired; upon hearing the newscast, Bosack resigned to conduct his support for her.
Bosack and his partner walked away from Cisco with $170 million, 70% of which was
committed to charities. The two later divorced.

Cisco acquired a variety of companies to bring out in products and talent into the
company. In 1995-1996 the convention completed 11 acquisitions. A number of acquisitions,
such as Stratacom, were the biggest deals in the production when they occurred.
During the Internet blast in 1999, the friends acquired Cerent Corporation,
a start-up firm located in Petaluma, California, representing on every side US$7 billion.
It was the most expensive acquirement made by means of Cisco to date, and at best the
possessions of Well-controlled Atlanta has been larger. Several acquired companies
have grown into $1Bn+ province units for Cisco, including LAN switching,
Enterprise Bring up as a remainder Internet Usage (VOIP), and refuge networking. Cisco
acquired Linksys in 2003.

In fashionable Walk 2000, at the apogee of the dot-com boom, Cisco ppt was the most
valuable gathering in the crowd, with a superstore capitalization of more than
US$500 billion. In July 2009, with a market lid of down US$108.03 billion,
it is pacify united of the most valuable companies.

The comrades was a 2002-03 legatee of the Ron Brown Award, a U.S.
presidential honor to accept companies "an eye to the meritorious quality
of their relationships with employees and communities".